Chapter 150

“Watashi wa kirei desu ka (Am I beautiful)?”

Shen Ge swallowed the sarcastic retort on his tongue. He wanted to reply “Pretty my foot,” but ultimately held back. He felt there was something off about this woman.

According to the system prompt, this woman was a “Stage 2 Defilement.” Defilements weren’t supposed to possess intelligence, let alone ask questions like “Am I beautiful?”

If this woman was an artificial defilement created by the Twelve Branches, like the “multi-limbed” ones, there was no reason she wouldn’t recognize the Special Response Department combat suits he and Fang Mingyue were wearing.

Was she being deliberately mysterious?

Trying to evoke urban legends from their country?

“Nanika goyō desu ka (Is there something you need)?” Fang Mingyue asked.

“You know their language too?” Shen Ge was slightly surprised, looking at Fang Mingyue. If he remembered correctly, her language skills were also good when he asked for her help buying gifts in that mall.

Fang Mingyue actually knew several languages. Initially choosing folk music, she aimed to promote it internationally, hence learning multiple languages.

Fang Mingyue frowned slightly and warned the woman in their language that the area was dangerous and she should leave immediately. Unexpectedly, the masked woman just repeated her question again.

“Tch. The essence of humanity is being a repeater, huh?” Shen Ge complained. Then he looked at Fang Mingyue and asked, “How do you say ‘Pretty my foot’ in their language?”

“…” Fang Mingyue looked at Shen Ge with a feel awkward expression. She really didn’t know how to translate such a colloquial, sarcastic phrase filled with personal color.

While they were talking, the masked woman kept asking the same question, like an emotionless repeater.

Shen Ge glanced at her and said, “What do you think? If I don’t answer, will she just keep asking forever?”

If he weren’t pressed for time, Shen Ge would have loved to study this properly. This “defilement” was different from the parasitized humans he’d seen before.

“This…”

The masked woman’s questioning frequency increased, her voice growing louder and more shrill.

Fang Mingyue had felt something was off about the masked woman from the start—normal people wouldn’t be wandering near a military base at night.

But she hadn’t considered the possibility of a Twelve Branches artificial defilement, as her contact with them was limited and never involved face-to-face “conversations.”

“Watashi wa kirei desu ka?” This time, the woman’s voice was almost a roar.

Shen Ge replied impatiently perfunctory: “Pretty, pretty! Why are you shouting so loud?”

“Kore de watashi ga kirei da to omoimasu ka (Do you still think I’m beautiful like this)?” The masked woman slowly pulled down her mask. The corners of her mouth extended towards her cheeks, reaching all the way to her earlobes. Or, to be more accurate, the lower half of her face wasn’t a “face” at all; everything below the nose was just a mouth.

Oh?

So you need to answer the question to trigger the next phase?

This indeed showed some “evolution” compared to the parasitized humans in the Daijing Disaster, but not much. Still seemed pretty stupid.

So, the Twelve Branches were continuously experimenting this way, trying to evolve these parasitized humans into a “symbiotic body” of human and defilement?

Shen Ge gave the Slit-Mouthed Woman’s disgusting bloody maw a casual glance and nodded with apparent satisfaction: “Tsk, tsk. You little… unique thing. You really look like nothing on earth, but you’re definitely much prettier than before!”

“…” When Fang Mingyue saw the face under the mask, if Shen Ge hadn’t been blocking the way, she would have instinctively thrust her Defilement-Bone Rod into that large mouth.

She never expected Shen Ge to be so calm.

“Agent Shen, she…” Fang Mingyue hesitated. She was, after all, a defilement. Messing with her like this… seemed a bit disrespectful to her monstrous identity.

Monsters have pride too!

“Slit-Mouthed Woman. Quite famous here. There’s even a novel next door where she’s the female lead… Tsk, tsk. My first time seeing one up close. Seems online rumors aren’t all false… So, maybe Qian Wanhao’s grandfather really exists too?”

Shen Ge turned his head to speak to Fang Mingyue, completely ignoring the Slit-Mouthed Woman, whose upper head tilted back, opening the terrifying bloody maw on her lower face. Inside was a lamprey-like oral cavity with concentric rings of disgusting teeth.

Just based on this disgusting feature, this Slit-Mouthed Woman could be equated with the parasitized humans from Lahu Lake Water Town, or the worm mouths of “Liu Zongrui.”

“Caref—” Fang Mingyue started to warn Shen Ge, but suddenly her vision blurred. Shen Ge’s left arm was already clad in the black, fleshy corruption armor, grabbing the Slit-Mouthed Woman by the throat and lifting her up.

Fang Mingyue’s eyes widened in shock!

She never thought the strange woman could threaten Shen Ge; she even believed it was normal for Shen Ge to easily defeat her. But she didn’t expect it to be this easy!

Fang Mingyue didn’t even see Shen Ge move. It was as if the scene before her appeared suddenly. The speed was unreal!

Although the “profile information” of most elite Anti-Defilement agents in the Special Response Department was public, to facilitate coordination during operations, Shen Ge was the exception.

Deng Yuqi not only deleted his pre-department records but also modified his abilities multiple times.

In other words, except for those familiar with Shen Ge, no one knew his true capabilities and equipment.

Moreover, Shen Ge’s “Formless Defilement Domain” was his latest ability. Besides Cheng Shengnan, who assisted in testing, even Deng Yuqi didn’t know he possessed it.

Regarding Shen Ge’s affairs, Cheng Shengnan always kept her mouth shut. In a way, her joining the Special Response Department was partly to help conceal Shen Ge’s information more easily.

While Fang Mingyue was stunned, Shen Ge slammed the Slit-Mouthed Woman onto the ground. His left palm opened, and a bone spear emerged from it. As he gripped the base, the tip pierced through the woman’s head with a “thud.”

The Slit-Mouthed Woman’s body twitched and struggled, trying to get up. Shen Ge stepped on the back of her neck and used the bone spear to pry open her collar.

Although Shen Ge’s actions were somewhat “flippant,” Fang Mingyue, standing beside him, operated on the principle that “Agent Shen must have a deeper meaning for everything he does.” Even if Shen Ge dissected the corpse, she would see “profundity” in it.

Of course, Shen Ge had no other intentions towards the Slit-Mouthed Woman. Prying open her clothes was to check for the Twelve Branches’ characteristic mark on her neck.

After all, the Slit-Mouthed Woman was flagged as a “defilement,” not a parasitized human, suggesting she should be more advanced than the mindless walking corpses.

Initially, Shen Ge even wondered if she was a new type of “multi-limbed” artificial defilement.

However, the Slit-Mouthed Woman’s shoulders were clear and pale, without any “red pustules.”

Thud!

Suddenly, just as Shen Ge felt some regret at not finding the “red pustules,” the Slit-Mouthed Woman’s head transformed into a gaping bloody maw. Facing away from Shen Ge, it instantly enlarged, swallowing towards him.

Fang Mingyue prepared to assist, her Defilement-Bone Rod extending towards the Slit-Mouthed Woman’s neck. But Shen Ge was faster. The bone spear in his hand transformed into a Black Bone Spine Whip, lashing out and wrapping around the creature’s head, preventing it from moving forward.

Then, lifting his foot and pulling with his hand, the Slit-Mouthed Woman, whose neck was ensnared by the whip, was flung into the air and slammed onto the ground again.

Shen Ge stood still, flicking the whip left and right. The Slit-Mouthed Woman crashed left and right, looking even more pitiful than a certain god from Asgard.

“Huh.” Fang Mingyue suddenly felt that staying quietly by Shen Ge’s side was the best course of action. “Helping” seemed unnecessary.

[Host successfully killed Stage 2 Defilement. Reward: System Points x100, F-grade Recovery Item x1.]

[Sell Stage 2 Defilement corpse? Price: 500 System Points.]

Clearly, certified by the system, this Slit-Mouthed Woman was indeed a defilement. But judging by combat power, it seemed like a “4-years-later” Stage 2.

However, Shen Ge had doubts. To him, the Slit-Mouthed Woman seemed more like a parasitized human or a Twelve Branches artificial defilement, not warranting a “defilement” judgment.

After a moment’s thought, Shen Ge had a hypothesis. He took out the Butcher’s Cleaver, squatted beside the corpse, and began slicing downward from the neck.

“You might want to turn around,” Shen Ge kindly reminded.

Fang Mingyue was puzzled at first, but the next second, she saw the blade cut open the Slit-Mouthed Woman’s chest, incidentally slicing off part of the breast.

“…” He really was dissecting the corpse.

Although Fang Mingyue knew there must be “profundity” in this, as a woman herself, she felt her stomach churn, nearly vomiting.

Listening to the “squishy” cutting sounds behind her, Fang Mingyue didn’t understand Shen Ge’s purpose but waited quietly.

A few minutes later, Shen Ge pulled a string of things from the corpse, holding up the “internal organs” connected to the head as he stood.

“Just as I thought. Parasitic defilement again,” Shen Ge said.

Fang Mingyue looked back and saw Shen Ge holding a lump of rotten flesh resembling a heart. The string of rotten flesh connected to the neck and the face, which lay limp like skin.

She immediately thought of the parasitized humans in the Daijing Disaster who tried to persuade her to eat defilement flesh. They were almost identical to this Slit-Mouthed Woman.

However, the Slit-Mouthed Woman’s parasite was larger, about the size of a basketball.

Shen Ge cut open the “rotten flesh” with the cleaver. With a “pop,” the red pustule inside ruptured, black liquid flowing everywhere.

“Tsk, really has this thing. Hidden inside the body.” Shen Ge remembered that after the Rong City Lahu Lake Water Town disaster, the branch dissected many parasitized humans, but the red pustule-shaped parasitic defilements inside were only fist-sized.

“These guys are indeed ‘evolving’.” Shen Ge then briefed Fang Mingyue on the branch’s research findings regarding these parasitized humans.

Fang Mingyue’s expression darkened upon hearing this. If Takaguchi City was also attacked by these parasitic defilements, given its population, the situation would be much more troublesome than in Daijing City.

Compared to Fang Mingyue’s concern, Shen Ge thought about how these parasitized humans were now judged as “defilements,” offering kill rewards and sale rewards, allowing him to farm points.

However, the evolution from no rewards to Stage 2 judgment meant the parasitized humans were “evolving.” This was indeed not good news.

She chose the dagger over the cleaver because her physique and habits suited it better than wielding a large blade.

The petal-headed parasitized human wasn’t fast. Fang Mingyue adopted a mobile combat style, swiftly decapitating it.

Just then, the noise at the gate attracted other parasitized humans from the woods. Dozens more emerged.

Having promised Shen Ge to guard the gate, Fang Mingyue intended to let none pass.

Meanwhile, inside the base, Shen Ge ignored the obstructof soldiers parasitized by the parasitic defilements. After searching, he found the armory.

His initial hope was to find defilement-energy equipment in a place like a Self-Defense Force base, but that was clearly wishful thinking.

The conventional weapons here weren’t even top-notch, let alone defilement-energy gear.

Fortunately, there was plenty of standard equipment. Shen Ge loaded several crates of grenades and explosives, selected some firearms, and stuffed the worm-mouth backpack full before leaving.

When departing Rong City, Shen Ge hadn’t brought much firearms or ammunition besides explosives. Adhering to the fine tradition of “If we have no guns or cannons, the enemy will make them for us,” he simply brought his bag for a zero-yen shopping spree at the local arms store.

Exiting the base, he saw Fang Mingyue skillfully engaging several parasitized humans. Over a dozen corpses already lay around. To achieve such results in just over ten minutes showed her rapid growth, as Deng Yuqi said. She was indeed among the top agents at headquarters now.

But her fighting style… alternating between fists, feet, and defilement-energy equipment, strongly resembled Shen Ge’s “no-holds-barred” combat philosophy. It was clear Fang Mingyue had learned a lot from following Shen Ge, especially in combat style.

“Agent Fang!” Shen Ge leaped out from the main gate, tossing an assault rifle and magazines to her, then joined the fight.

Fang Mingyue caught the rifle, quickly loaded a magazine. After the fight, she had identified their weakness.

A burst of gunfire from the assault rifle instantly pierced the “red pustules” inside the chests of the parasitized humans.

Minutes later, the two cleared the parasitized humans in the woods.

However, Shen Ge found it strange that the system didn’t certify these parasitized humans as “Stage 2 Defilements,” meaning no kill or sale rewards.

Shen Ge dissected some with his cleaver for research. They were different from the Slit-Mouthed Woman.

The ones in the woods resembled those from the Daijing Disaster, while the Slit-Mouthed Woman’s internal parasite was like the one from Rong City’s Lahu Lake Water Town.

“Can’t be there are Generation 1 and Generation 2, right? The issue must lie with the ‘red pustule.’ What exactly is it?”

Unfortunately, dealing with the conceptual defilement “Misfortune” in Takaguchi was the priority. Otherwise, taking the Slit-Mouthed Woman back for Li Xiang to study might reveal differences.

If they could find the pattern behind the Twelve Branches’ “evolution” of these parasitized humans, they might find a way to stop it.

Shen Ge recalled the “Yin” branch member’s tiger-like mutation during the branch attack. He wondered if further mutations would follow the “Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon…” pattern.

Regardless, their mutations were indeed making them stronger. Without finding a way to stop it, they posed a significant future threat.

“Agent Shen, did you find the weapons?” Fang Mingyue asked. She wondered because Shen Ge only carried one assault rifle. Going through all that trouble for one gun didn’t seem like his style.

Shen Ge opened the worm-mouth backpack and took out some weapons for Fang Mingyue. “It’s the latest defilement-energy equipment developed by our branch. It can hold a room’s worth of gear inside. I emptied all the grenades and explosives in there.”

“I see. That’s really convenient,” Fang Mingyue marveled.

Shen Ge and Fang Mingyue retraced their route, found their car, and continued towards Takaguchi City. Near the suburbs, the car ran out of gas. The nearest gas station was a kilometer or two away.

Shen Ge was about to use the Defilement-Leather Boots’ mobility to fetch gasoline when headlights appeared in the distance. A car was approaching.

“Agent Shen, a car?” Fang Mingyue’s tone also held surprise.

According to their reports, the area around Takaguchi had been evacuated. Civilians shouldn’t normally be around.

“Yeah. What a coincidence,” Shen Ge snorted, a faint smile on his face.

He walked to the roadside and attempted to flag down the car.

After the car stopped, Shen Ge, using Little Seven’s translation system, asked the male driver who rolled down the window: “Brother, can you give us a lift to the gas station ahead? Our car’s out of gas. I’ll pay you.”

“Okay,” the driver replied flatly, emotionlessly.

Shen Ge signaled Fang Mingyue to get in the car.

Once inside, Fang Mingyue leaned close to Shen Ge and whispered, “Agent Shen, why not just pay him to buy some gasoline directly?”

“Shh.” Shen Ge made a quiet gesture and glanced meaningfully at the rearview mirror.

Fang Mingyue looked and immediately noticed something wrong. The reflection in the mirror showed the driver seemed to have… no face.

“Agent Shen, is this… the Defilement Car?” Since the Chongqing incident, Fang Mingyue had followed Shen Ge’s cases closely, privately studying all the defilement events he handled. She was familiar with the Defilement Car.

Shen Ge smiled: “That’s more like it. The familiar taste. Now we can confirm, this is definitely the Twelve Branches guys up to their tricks again!”